Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Gunning For You

The Oscars: Film reviewer Rex Reed may well have jumped off the roof of a tall building by now because he apparently hated The Shape of Water as one hates the thought of acquiring leprosy. I guess I'll put this movie on a long list of features one never lives long enough to see, but that's okay because I can simply return to those golden days of yesteryear and re-experience The Creature From the Black Lagoon and its sequels. Once you've seen a diver in a rubber suit portraying a human-like fish that kills men, but prefers to make women scream and faint, what's left? Oh, right, a timeless love story about a women who falls, not faints, for an aquatic creature (a science product) all geared up for cinematic fish-o-eroticism in 2018. The current crop of man-hating ladies will adore this film, no doubt, as "fish night" takes on a whole new meaning.

We were a bit surprised when Hollywood's biggest night allowed a brief tribute to American military personnel, though we wonder whether the West Coast crowd realizes the armed services are composed of more than gays, lesbians and transgendered personnel. Anyway, the tribute was okay, but host Jimmy Kimmel might have allowed a few seconds for the tribute to sink in before immediately resorting to humor just as the film concluded -- something "they" would NEVER do when they present the annual segment regarding actors and other industry folk who died in the past year.

Prolific and well-established actor Gary Oldman's bold words thanking America for being so good to him seemed strangely alien, once we looked around at much of the USA-hating phonies blossoming on stage. Of course, after the show Internet attacks on Oldman began.

An observation that only people of a certain age could appreciate is the overwhelming realization that Hollywood no longer flatters itself with a stable of "stars." The stage time occupied by actress Eva Marie Saint, Rita Moreno and only a handful of veteran performers reminds us that we now encounter personalities and one or two-hit wonders, but names and faces unaffected by the motion picture standard time clock and calendar have diminished greatly.

Post World War II and Korea, when all kinds of talented former military people -- who knew what was worth fighting for -- became involved in the movie industry, they also brought fresh thinking and an incredible succession of great motion pictures. What's out there now? Looks like a lot of film time taken up by scenes involving cell phones and other forms of technology which sometimes obscure whatever story line might have been intended or actually constructed painstakingly. Computer graphics likewise "solve" dilemmas and issues which formerly required critical thinking, candid conversation and realistic emoting by humans. When emotion is supplanted by an emoji, run for your life. Yep, we are in hell.

Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? For as much time as I spend discussing guns, you may be surprised to know that I'm not really a "gun person." Do I fire weapons now and then, or have I access to firearms? That's a question which is best seldom answered publicly, though I will admit to firing the M-16 rifle during Air Force basic training (no, this one didn't jam, though you're probably familiar with M-16 jamming horror stories from the Vietnam Era).

Which returns me to the Oscars momentarily: Imagine all the movies which depend upon firearms and explosives -- kinda makes Hollywood stars, starlets and executives look rather disingenuous as they complain about guns. Anyway. . .

A few years ago, when progressive leftist presidential wannabe and megalomaniac NY governor Andrew Cuomo twisted legislative arms and succeeded in drastically curtailing New York State residents' firearm rights, while simultaneously urinating on the Second Amendment, he posed a question about just how much gun and how much ammo was required to hunt deer. His attitude, as we're sure even he knew, was absurd. The entire foundation of gun rights in the U.S. is based upon the need for a people to protect themselves from an enemy, not the need to hunt animals -- and the most feared potential enemy for Americans was our own government, which might one day turn against us, thus necessitating a measured firearm response. How many foreign nations' "captive audience" residents wish they had access to firearms when bullied and threatened by their own rulers (hello-o-o-o-o, Iran. . .)?

Our leftist friends never wish to remember that firearms built this country in no small way, and though school shootings tragically claim many lives, thousands and thousands more lives were lost making sure we could keep our basic rights, and one of those is the right to protect ourselves with those dreaded guns. Nevertheless, the left continues to foolishly, stupidly, chip. . .chip. . .chip away at that which we will never regain once it's gone.

Guns were not created needlessly, and to plant concentrated hatred and thoughtless blame upon the National Rifle Association borders upon group hysteria and/or insanity. Meanwhile, the left will continue attempting to take away, the innocence of those taken from be damned. Beware, beware, beware.

Confused: We're told we must reference colored people as people of color now, so how come the NAACP is called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People? This is what happens when you mess around with the language, and I just can't wait until "hate speech" limits are put into effect (at least that should be blown apart in the courts. . .oh, the courts. . .).

(Note: I sometimes post these entries "on the fly" and temporarily miss typos and occasional serious errors, but generally correct these faults within days. I'm sorry if my semantic and grammar bumbling on such occasions interferes with the flow, but please be aware that I am generally aware of necessary corrections. Let's blame my age -- or those famous "gremlins" which some writers hold responsible for various word problems.)

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Unless otherwise noted, all entries are property of Robert Barrow, to be reprinted only with my permission, please. To CONTACT me via e-mail please address your note to me as follows: TYPE rob_wildwinds AND THEN TYPE @yahoo.com